Corporate Culture Archives - The Douglas Company - Senior Living and Multifamily General Contractor Located in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Florida

The Douglas Company Elevates Two Long-Standing Partners to Vice President

Posted on July 23, 2021 | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, announced the promotion of two of its partners to Vice Presidents. Mr. Bruce Douglas has been promoted to Vice President of Preconstruction, and Mr. Pete Zimmerman has been promoted to Vice President of Estimating. Both will be serving as members of The Douglas Company’s Executive Committee, establishing company policies, and participating in developing company strategies and objectives.

Pete Zimmerman, P.E.

Vice President of Estimating

Mr. Zimmerman began his career with The Douglas Company in 2003 after graduating from the University of Toledo College of Engineering with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He demonstrates a full understanding of construction, cost control, the bid process, project documentation, project management, and time management with subcontractors and suppliers.

As Vice President of Estimating, Pete will work closely with clients, architects, and subcontractors, during the estimating stage,...

The Douglas Company Announces Key Associates Promotions

Posted on April 28, 2021 | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, is pleased to announce four key promotions within our Holland, Ohio office, a move that advances both our associates' professional development and the organization's growth.

"Internal succession and promotions build upon our foundation while allowing the company to evolve and grow. In their new roles, these team members will strengthen the organizational structure and effectively allow our team to focus on client satisfaction while executing our long-term growth strategy. We expect each of the key associates' leadership, experience, and vision to enhance our organization," said Peter Douglas, President of The Douglas Company.

Justin VanAtta
Project Manager

Justin VanAtta joined The Douglas Company in 2017 as an Assistant Project Manager and has since earned the position of Project Manager. In Justin's new role, his responsibilities include managing the complete life cycle of a variety of projects and working closely with clients...

The Douglas Company Promotes Leadership Within – Jeremy Bartolovitch Named Vice President of the Southeast Region

Posted on January 20, 2020 | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company, General Contractor, is pleased to announce the promotion of Jeremy Bartolovitch Vice President of the Southeast Division located in our Orlando, Florida office.

Mr. Bartolovitch began his career with The Douglas Company in 2008 as a Project Coordinator progressing to Project Estimator, then Senior Estimator was later promoted to Chief Estimator, and has since earned the position of Vice President of the Southeast Region. In his role as Vice President, Mr. Bartolovitch is directly responsible for the construction and successful completion of all projects and operations in the Southeast Region.

"Jeremy has excelled during his time with The Douglas Company, and is a proven leader who has been dedicated to the success of our company and our clients since he joined our team," said Peter Douglas, President of The Douglas Company. "He has earned this promotion through his focus on growing our business, his expertise...

2019 The Douglas Company Annual Food Drive

Posted on October 15, 2019 | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company held its 2nd annual food drive, collecting 1,580 pounds of nonperishable food and 2,776 lbs. of water, which we had the pleasure of donating to support Providence Lutheran Church’s Food Pantry in Holland, Ohio.

"We are very happy with the success of the event and extremely grateful for the thoughtful donations from our employees to help fight hunger in our community,” said Gayle Ashbridge, Director of People Development of The Douglas Company.

Providence Lutheran Church’s Food Pantry

The mission of the Providence Lutheran Church’s Food Pantry is to eliminate hunger in our community and surrounding areas by acquiring and distributing food to those in need of assistance. Envision a community in which everyone has access to sufficient and nutritious food. The generosity of individuals helps to support the Providence Lutheran Church’s Food Pantry. According to the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, one in six people and one in four...

High Performance

Posted on August 28, 2019 | by Bob Ritter

The key that is often overlooked as to why certain construction company’s projects succeed more frequently and sustain long term success, is the proper alignment of each project team on a daily basis.

To help with team alignment, at The Douglas Company internal daily huddles are conducted throughout all levels of the organization to help foster shared goals, a common purpose, facilitate clear communication, resolve conflicts, and align behaviors.

These daily huddles ultimately enhance performance, get everyone working together, and playing from the same playbook of contributing to each team’s success. It’s what keeps the business running and employees productive and empowered. Holding a daily huddle is perhaps the most important tactic a business can employ to help their company leaders and associates stay focused.

Each morning at The Douglas Company our huddles confirm and give updates on daily projects and priorities. This meeting rhythm makes us accountable to each other, to...

Peers

Posted on May 22, 2018 | by jyoakam

I just came home from a peer group. It was a great experience, but it made me ask myself what a peer really is. Everyone in this industry who succeeds is competitive and committed to excellence. Excellence requires learning, which is at the core of the purpose of a peer group. A peer is defined as “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background and social status.” By this definition, it seems impossible to truly be a peer. All of the people and the businesses in the peer group are different. We build different types of projects for different types of clients. We take different risks and have different business models. We have different org structures and strengths and weaknesses. But this is inherent and necessary to value in a “peer” group. We complement each other and learn from each other and get better by spending time...

Core values are Part of a Company’s DNA

Posted on June 16, 2017 | by Bob Ritter

At our recent client event at the Dante Next Door restaurant in Cleveland, I was surprised at how similar seemingly dissimilar businesses can be. Dante, who looks like Bruce Springsteen, is one of the top-rated chefs in the world and deserves to be. He regaled us with stories of movie stars (he was Robert De Niro’s personal chef for a time) and rock stars, and his travels around the world, which shows what a formerly young man from upstate New York can accomplish. He has a burgeoning business in Cleveland, with multiple venues of different types, all of which are well regarded and successful. A little talent of course helps, but Dante worked really hard, focused on learning to be the best that he could be, and stayed humble through all of it. It’s a lot like our business in those regards, and like for Dante, the opportunities and successes have...

Cultural Differences

Posted on November 22, 2016 | by Bob Ritter

Recently, after declining a large project to a prospective client, he asked me if it was their difficult contract, or if it was culture. The contract was a problem, and he asked me to identify the issues because he thought we could resolve them. But in thinking about it overnight, the problem really was culture. We teach our project teams to work synergistically with our clients, ensuring the best results possible. Our people are expected to perform, no question about it. But we work in a cooperative manner in our clients' best interest. This client was accustomed to aggressive and almost abusive treatment of contractors, which is different than our norm. Whenever we run into this type of situation, it does not end well. Though we had reserved the staff to start this project, It was an easy decision. The success of the project for the client was at stake, as...

How Core Values Help Senior Living Developers

Posted on August 25, 2016 | by Bob Ritter

Core Values is another concept coined by Jim Collins to be a key to a company being “Built to Last” as outlined in his book of that title. The Douglas Company has 4 Core Values, as follows: · Great client relationships with high customer loyalty · Integrity and professionalism in all we do · Keeping our commitments through proactive attention to detail and execution · Growth of our Associates and Business through learning, teamwork, and leadership Great Client Relationships with High Customer Loyalty Why It’s A Core Value We genuinely like, appreciate, and value our clients. They do so many great things in society and do so much for us. They trust us with their important projects, and we need to be worthy of that trust. Because of all this, we value the relationship with them and want them to continue doing business with us. What It Means For Our Clients For our clients, this means that all of...

The Importance of Cultural Fit

Posted on March 28, 2016 | by Bob Ritter

The Douglas Company’s Core Purpose is “To contribute to the success of our Clients and Associates.” To consistently achieve our Core Purpose, our Associates must be committed to consistently live our Core Values: “Great client relationships with high customer loyalty” are accomplished through genuine care and concern for our clients. “Integrity and professionalism in all we do” requires a high level of personal pride and willingness to do the right things the right way. “Keeping our commitments through proactive attention to detail and execution” is achieved through perseverance and hard work to accomplish our goals. “Growth of our Associates and Business through learning, teamwork, and leadership” is demonstrated through our genuine care and respect for each other. Our Associates do not live our Core Values because they are “directed to,” but rather because they are motivated from within. It is in their DNA to focus on our Clients, to plan and execute well, and to take care of each other. ...